Sinking of the Vengeur du Peuple |
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| Career (France) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Vengeur du Peuple |
| Namesake: | "Avenger of the People" |
| Builder: | Toulon shipyard, plan by Chapelle |
| Laid down: | February 1767 |
| Launched: | 16 July 1766 |
| Commissioned: | November 1767 |
| Fate: | Sunk on 1 June 1794 during the Third Battle of Ushant |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1550 tonnes |
| Length: | 55. metres |
| Beam: | 14.1 metres |
| Draught: | 6.7 metres |
| Propulsion: | Sail |
| Armament: | 74 guns |
| Armour: | Timber |
The Vengeur du Peuple ("Avenger of the People") was a 74 gun ship of the line of the French Navy launched in 1762.
Originally offered by the city of Marseille, and named the Marseillois ("from Marseille"), she saw action during the American War of Independence. In 1778 she fought a single-ship action with HMS Preston, and in 1779 was with Admiral d'Estaing at the capture of Grenada. In 1781 she was at the battle of the Chesapeake with Admiral de Grasse, where she battled against HMS Intrepid.
Re-named in 1794 by the French Republic, the Vengeur was part of the French fleet, under Admiral Villaret de Joyeuse, which fought the Third Battle of Ushant. In that action she engaged in an epic four-hour duel with HMS Brunswick. With two masts down and one-third of her crew out of action, and with severe damage below the waterline, the Vengeur sank. 277 men[1], including her commanding officer, captain Renaudin, were saved by the British (HMS Alfred rescued about 100 men; HMS Rattler, about 40; and HMS Culloden, 127, including Renaudin).
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The incident gave rise to the legend, first reported to the National Convention, that the ship sank with her crew who chose to go down with the ship rather than surrender, shouting "long live the fatherland, long live the republic". The nation was inflamed, and the poet André Chenier composed a eulogy to commemorate the event. In fact close to 400 officers and men[2] were rescued by the enemy, and were released some months later. The rescue is depicted in Lord Howe's action, or the Glorious First of June, Loutherbourg's canvas of the battle.
The legend has persisted, however, and Jules Verne reported the incident with its revolutionary slant, and the ship's early history, in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea.